Alumnus, Students to Conduct Energy Audit at
Hopkins

The annual cost of electricity on the Homewood campus of
The Johns Hopkins University is $5 million; another $1
million is spent on heating oil. But with the aid of an
environmental engineering alumnus and a student organization,
the university hopes to reap some significant energy savings.

On Friday, Nov. 4, Peregrine "Pepper" White Jr., a 1979
graduate of Hopkins who owns LCI Energy, a Massachusetts-
based consulting firm, will donate his services and train
members of Students for Environmental Action on how to
conduct an energy efficiency audit. Following the morning
training session, groups of SEA members will visit 10 or more
buildings on campus, identifying inefficient uses of energy
and looking for ways to improve them.

NOTE: Journalists are welcome to accompany White or any
of the audit groups. Call Ken Keatley, (410) 516-7907, for
details.

"We'll be looking for quick payback things, like leaving
on lights and computers when not in use," said White. "The
idea of energy conservation is pretty simple in practice:
shut things off when they're not being used."

The audit sprang from a meeting White had in April with
Charles ReVelle, professor of geography and environmental
engineering, while on campus for his 15-year reunion. At
about the same time, junior mechanical engineering major Eric
Lee, president of Hopkins' SEA, was attending a Campus Earth
Summit meeting at Yale University, where energy audits were
discussed.

"I wanted our club this year to do more to reduce energy
consumption at Hopkins," Lee said. "Dr. Revelle, who is our
advisor, thought (White) might be able to help us. I wrote
him a letter, and he agreed to donate a day of his time."

Dr. Revelle, whose solar-powered office lighting is the
result of a prior SEA project, praised the efforts of Hopkins
administrators and students in supporting the audit.

"This will be a great educational experience for all of
us," Dr. ReVelle said.

Robert Schuerholz, executive director of facilities
management for all Hopkins campuses, is welcoming the
opportunity to continue his longstanding commitment to energy
conservation.

"This audit will be a good way for students to learn,
and provide some motivation for our operations staff," said
Schuerholz. "If everybody responds to their suggestions, we
could drop our utilities bill a couple of percent."

Schuerholz added that the Homewood campus has saved
about $40 million since 1973, due to such energy conservation
methods as installing sophisticated heat recovery devices on
boilers and utilizing a computerized energy management system
to reduce consumption during peak hours.

Currently, a $3.4 million chiller plant is under
construction near the Bloomberg Center. The plant will make
and melt iceberg-sized blocks of ice to provide much of the
air conditioning and other cooling needs for the Homewood
campus. It is estimated that the plant will save the
university $400,000 annually in electricity use.

Lee hopes ideas and suggestions culled from the audit
will be similarly successful, both financially and in raising
environmental consciousness of students, faculty and staff.

"This is exciting for me," Lee said. "We have been
pleasantly surprised by the enthusiasm on campus."

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